"Threshold" to be Called Windows 9, Ship in April 2015

By +Frank B.
in Back Page News

 Share

Recommended Posts

Experienced

Rickkins

Posted
Posted

Modular is the answer. 

Yanno, if ya listened carefully, you'd have noticed that that is essentially all we've ever wanted. On a personal level, I couldn't care less what someone else runs on their device. I just want access to the full desktop experience, and ideally I'd like to see it remain fully supported for another 20 years.(by which time I would be 78, or more likely dead...)

 

This does not, in and of itself mean that if something better came along I wouldn't jump on it, I would.

 

It's simply that tifkam wasn't it.

Grand Master

firey

Posted
Posted

It's funny, how pictures can show the clear divide.  I agree with all the 8/8.1 is not practical and doesn't fit, and how 7 is sleek and clean, and awesome.  Yet you can clearly see that others feel reverse.

Grand Master

BajiRav

Posted
Posted

Windows 8 / 8.1

 

 

Windows 7

 

 

:laugh:

(except Windows 7 can't be a Prius - more like a gas guzzling SUV compared to lean and mean Win 8.x)

  • dr_crabman and DConnell
  • Like 2
Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

But the problem is, not everyone uses just a keyboard.  Hell I used a mouse way way more than a keyboard.  I don't use a touch screen on my computer, and will likely never.. I lose productivity if I wanted to move to that.  

The start menu is way way better for me than the start screen ever will be.  I still sue the start menu as a start menu.   Just because some people don't use it, doesn't mean that everyone doesn't.  I still 100% believe metro is for tablets, and phones. I don't see it as having a place on a desktop, production, machine.

firey - that is exactly the entire point I have been trying to make - there have been two groups of merely GUI users (the issue cuts across Windows, so it's not JUST a Windows issue).  Note that the Start menu launched as part of Windows 95, and was, in fact, late coming to NT (it didn't until NT 4.0), and was, in fact, pretty much entirely pointing-device driven (according to Microsoft's own documentation) and I'm not even counting touch-screen users.  Because I don't have touch support, the inclusion of them merely covered up the already-extant dichotomy between the keyboard-driven and pointing-device-driven users.

That is why a hybrid OS makes sense - not every user uses the OS the same way.  The problem that Windows 8/8.1 is facing is that now the hybrid OS is the default - not a niche.  The problem that those that want simply standard production desktops (old-school desktops, as they would say) want is that such HARDWARE is no longer the default, at least in terms of Windows - truth be told, such hardware has been moving away from being a default build of merely Windows hardware since XP.  As much as the "kitchen-sink" versions of merely Vista and 7 sold (look at JUST the sales of the Ultimate SKU - of either OS - sold vs. any other SKU of the same OS), there is still far more to even Windows 8.1 Pro than there was to Windows 7 Ultimate - and that is despite Media Center being an extra-cost option in 8.1 vs. it being standard in 7.  (I've pointed this out in another thread - it's more that Windows 8 and 8.1 include too much.)  Therefore, from what the critics themselves are say, they would rather have a more cut-down SKU as an option (something below the existing Windows 8 Core).

They may have been hoping that the keyboard-driven user would go along with the pointing-device-driven users into complaining - however, by and large, that has no more been the case here than it has been with GNOME.  The excision of the Start menu has been a panacea for the keyboard-driven users - we're no longer second-class citizens behind pointing-device users.  Touch support (to me) is utterly irrelevant.

  • BajiRav and DConnell
  • Like 2
Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

It's funny, how pictures can show the clear divide.  I agree with all the 8/8.1 is not practical and doesn't fit, and how 7 is sleek and clean, and awesome.  Yet you can clearly see that others feel reverse.

firey - I have never (as in ever) said that there would not be a divide - I am saying that I am apparently wrong as to the reason for it.

 

On one side are the pointing-device-driven users - on the other are not just touch-screen users, but keyboard-driven users as well.

 

The first group is heavily-reliant to the point of bias on the Start menu - therefore, they are the most upset with its excision; most of them feel that no third-party alternative for Windows 8 or 8.1 will do.  (What strikes me as weird is that most of them can't even explain WHY that is the case.)  Touch-screen users and keyboard-driven users BOTH got some bennies out of Windows 8 and 8.1.  Touch-screens actually gained more support (in both 8 and 8.1 - with 8.1's support improving merely over the base 8) - however, surprisingly, keyboard-driven users gained more than even touch-screen users simply by ModernUI being more neutral compared to the pointing-device-driven Start menu.

 

That is why I can speak about neutrality with a straight face - because I am neither pointing-device-driven OR touch-screen driven.  I'm in that category that has been around (even in Windows) for a while, but doesn't get talked about much - a keyboard-driven (for the most part) user.

Grand Master

redfish

Posted
Posted

Metro 2.0. Maturing and fixing the "Metro" design language used by Windows will be a major focus area of Threshold. It's not clear what changes are coming, but it's safe to assume that a windowed mode that works on the desktop is part of that.

Three milestones. Microsoft expects to deliver three milestone releases of "Threshold" before its final release. It's unclear what these releases will be called (Beta, Release Candidate, etc.) or which if any will be provided to the public.

 

That's good, but how about maturing and fixing the desktop, too.

Grand Master

+Warwagon MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

Windows 8.1:

10-modern_cars_12.jpg

 

How exactly do you get into that ugly piece of crap? Did they remove the usefulness of A DOOR and just make you climb into it?

 

Actually, after thinking about it for a moment. That is the perfect Windows 8 car.

Grand Master

Dot Matrix

Posted
Posted

How exactly do you get into that ugly piece of crap? Did they remove the usefulness of A DOOR and just make you climb into it?

 

Actually, after thinking about it for a moment. That is the perfect Windows 8 car.

rinspeed_senso_01.JPG

 

Rinspeed+Senso+Cars+Pictures.jpg

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

I'm still not seeing door hinges. Do you climb in?

Pretty much that is the case - there are no "doors" that I can see; you climb over the doorsill.  (Unless there is a lever - and there appears to be one to the far rear of the doorsill under the left (passenger-side - this concept is right-hand-drive, just behind the roof) hinge; it's covered with the roof closed down.)

Grand Master

+Warwagon MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

It's a concept car. You do climb in because the drivers seat is in the middle of the chassis.

 

Which makes it the perfect Windows 8 car

 

1) it's ugly

2) It forces people to be inconvenienced. What if you get a broken leg, how do you get in?

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

That's good, but how about maturing and fixing the desktop, too.

Tell me, honestly - how is the desktop broken other than it not being biased toward pointing devices?

I haven't noticed ANY lack of usability in what desktop applications, games, etc. I use in Windows 8.1 every day - desktop applications could care less about the Start menu being missing.

 I still have a pronounced skew toward desktop applications and games - therefore I'm asking that question with a straight face.

Grand Master

Dot Matrix

Posted
Posted

Which makes it the perfect Windows 8 car

 

1) it's ugly

2) It forces people to be inconvenienced. What if you get a broken leg, how do you get it?

The definition of a concept car went right over your head, didn't it?

 

"Concept cars never go into production directly. In modern times all would have to undergo many changes before the design is finalized for the sake of practicality, safety, the meeting the burden of regulatory compliance, and cost. A "production-intent" vehicle, as opposed to a concept vehicle, serves this purpose."

 

Obviously, if it was mass produced, things would be reconfigured for use. I could point out a nice BMW concept too, that doesn't have doors. The initial picture was meant to be something modern and forward looking, but this conversation went sour fast.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along

      By +Edouard · Posted

      @Sayan...I have defended you at various points as I hope you know. This headline however is utter trash...shame on you sir!
    • An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along

      By hellowalkman · Posted

      An actual cosmic "Eye of Sauron" had been looking straight at us all along by Sayan Sen Image by Kovin P. Vasquez via Pexels | Not representative An international team of researchers has solved a long-standing mystery surrounding a distant blazar known as PKS 1424+240, helping explain why it produces some of the brightest high-energy gamma rays and cosmic neutrinos ever observed despite appearing to have a relatively slow-moving jet. The findings were published on June 6 in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters. The study addresses a broader challenge in astrophysics: understanding how extreme cosmic objects accelerate particles to very high energies and produce very high-energy (VHE) photons and neutrinos. PKS 1424+240 is located billions of light-years from Earth. It has attracted attention for years because it is both a powerful source of VHE gamma rays and the brightest known neutrino-emitting blazar in the sky, according to observations by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. It is also associated with one of the strongest peaks in IceCube's nine-year neutrino sky map A blazar is a type of active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole that pulls in surrounding matter and launches jets of plasma moving close to the speed of light. What makes blazars unique is their orientation. One of their jets points almost directly toward Earth, making them appear exceptionally bright across the electromagnetic spectrum and allowing scientists to study some of the most extreme physical processes in the Universe. The scientists exclaimed it's like the 'Eye of Sauron' in deep space. Usually, the brightest gamma-ray-emitting blazars are expected to have jets that appear to move very quickly. However, radio observations of PKS 1424+240 suggested that its jet was moving much more slowly, creating a contradiction that became part of a long-running problem known as the "Doppler factor crisis." To investigate, researchers analyzed 15 years of observations from the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a network of 10 radio antennas spread across the continental United States, Hawaii and St. Croix. Using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), astronomers combine signals from widely separated radio telescopes to create a virtual Earth-sized telescope capable of revealing extremely fine details. The team combined 42 polarization-sensitive radio images collected between 2009 and 2025, creating a much deeper and more detailed view of the jet than had previously been possible. The observations were carried out as part of MOJAVE (Monitoring Of Jets in Active galactic nuclei with VLBA Experiments), a long-running program that studies the brightness, polarization and magnetic field structures of jets produced by active galaxies. The project aims to better understand how activity near supermassive black holes is linked to high-energy radiation and neutrino emission. “When we reconstructed the image, it looked absolutely stunning,” said Yuri Kovalev, lead author of the study and Principal Investigator of the European Research Council-funded MuSES project at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. “We have never seen anything quite like it — a near-perfect toroidal magnetic field with a jet, pointing straight at us.” The image revealed an unusual geometry. The researchers found that Earth lies almost directly in line with the jet, with a viewing angle of less than 0.6 degrees. In simple terms, astronomers are looking almost straight down the jet. This turned out to be the key to the mystery. Because the jet is aimed almost directly at Earth, a relativistic effect called Doppler boosting dramatically increases its apparent brightness. The study found that this effect boosts the emission by a factor of about 30 while also making the jet appear slower than it actually is. “This alignment causes a boost in brightness by a factor of 30 or more,” said Jack Livingston, a co-author at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy. “At the same time, the jet appears to move slowly due to projection effects — a classic optical illusion.” The nearly head-on view also gave scientists a rare look at the jet's magnetic field. Using polarized radio signals, they detected a clear toroidal, or doughnut-shaped, magnetic field component. The observations suggest the jet carries an electric current and that its magnetic field helps launch, shape and stabilize the flow of plasma. Researchers believe this magnetic structure may also play a key role in accelerating particles to energies high enough to produce both gamma rays and neutrinos. “Solving this puzzle confirms that active galactic nuclei with supermassive black holes are not only powerful accelerators of electrons, but also of protons — the origin of the observed high-energy neutrinos,” Kovalev said. The research was conducted under the MuSES (Multi-messenger Studies of Energetic Sources) project, which investigates how active galactic nuclei accelerate particles and generate different cosmic signals, including light and neutrinos. Scientists say understanding how protons are accelerated and linked to neutrino production remains one of the major unanswered questions in astrophysics. The findings help explain why some blazars can appear to have slow jets while still producing extremely bright high-energy emissions. More broadly, the study strengthens the link between relativistic jets, magnetic fields, gamma rays and high-energy neutrinos. Researchers say the results provide new clues about how some of the Universe's most powerful natural particle accelerators work and offer important insights for multimessenger astronomy, which combines different types of cosmic signals to study extreme events in space. Source: European Research Council, EDP Sciences This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, this material is used for the purpose of news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
    • What browser do you prefer to use, and why?

      By AnotherITguy · Posted

      Edge
    • Classic Outlook vs New Outlook — Which one do you prefer and why?

      By AnotherITguy · Posted

      Gotenks98 is right... Outlook (new) is absolute trash. Doesn't Mozilla have an Enterprise Version of Firebird?
    • Microsoft Weekly: Surface Laptop Ultra, Windows 11 context menus, Build 2026 recap, and more

      By TarasBuria · Posted

      Microsoft Weekly: Surface Laptop Ultra, Windows 11 context menus, Build 2026 recap, and more by Taras Buria This week's news recap is here, with Microsoft announcing the new Surface Laptop Ultra, fresh chips from NVIDIA for Windows on ARM, a no-build week, fixes for Windows 11's context menus, gaming news, reviews, and more. Quick links: Windows 10 and 11 Windows Insider Program Updates are available Reviews are in Gaming news Great deals to check Windows 11 and Windows 10 Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions. At Computex 2026, together with NVIDIA, Microsoft announced the Surface Laptop Ultra, its most powerful laptop to date, powered by NVIDIA's RTX Spark processor. Details about this computer are currently scarce, as Microsoft has only revealed certain parts of its specs. So far, we know that the computer has a 15-inch mini-LED display, a rich set of ports, a powerful processor, and all-day battery life. It also comes with a new wallpaper, which you can already download here in full resolution. The Surface Laptop Studio is not the only NVIDIA-powered Surface, which Microsoft unveiled this week. At Build 2026, the company also debuted the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box, an odd-shaped desktop with a 20-core NVIDIA Grace CPU and an NVIDIA Blackwell RTX GPU with 6,144 CUDA cores and fifth-generation Tensor Cores with FP4 precision, connected via the NVIDIA NVLink-C2C chip-to-chip interconnect for high performance. According to Microsoft, it can run models with up to 120 billion parameters locally without relying on cloud GPU infrastructure. These two new Surface devices are likely to cost quite a lot, and for those who need a more affordable device, Microsoft is preparing the next-gen Qualcomm-powered Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. This week, details about these two devices leaked in plenty of detail. Other announcements at Build 2026 include the following: Microsoft unveils new security tools for IT admins and developers building AI products Microsoft announces Scout, an OpenClaw-powered personal agent for enterprise customers Microsoft unveils MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning and MAI-Code-1 coding models Microsoft announced a new Windows 11 native command-line utility Microsoft unveils Majorana 2 quantum chip, accelerating commercial timeline to 2029 Microsoft believes that AI agents will eventually replace apps through Project Solara Microsoft introduces Web IQ, a Bing-powered search system built for AI agents Last week, Microsoft released a new Experimental build, which introduced a major Start menu upgrade. It now lets you toggle off specific parts of the menu without affecting other features, resize the menu, and hide additional UI elements. We published a closer look here, so if you want to know what Microsoft is cooking without enrolling in the Insider program and installing unstable builds, check it out. Speaking of new features, many users are very annoyed about the way Microsoft delivers them. Recently, a frustrated user shared their experience with gradual rollouts, and even Microsoft engineers admitted there is a flaw in the system that prevents new features from applying properly. One of those new features includes the ability to uninstall AI models in Windows 11 with a single click. Windows 11 is finally getting fixes for its slow context menus. Marcus Ash from Microsoft confirmed that the company is working on fixing Windows 11's context menus. Reworked context menus are going to be faster, simpler by default, and "configurable to what you use most." According to Marcus, Microsoft will share more details soon. Windows Insider Program Windows 11 preview builds, released last week, are now available for download as standalone ISO files. These days, Microsoft regularly pushes new images, allowing users to clean-install its recent Windows 11 preview builds faster and easier. If you want to try the latest Windows 11 features without jumping through the Windows Update hoops, get those new images here. Sadly, Microsoft did not release new Windows 11 preview builds this week. Come back next time. Updates are available This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more from Microsoft and third parties. Microsoft is preparing new features for Teams. Later this month, the messenger will receive a new download manager with auto-dismissing notifications, reducing clutter and making the overall experience less annoying when dealing with downloads. Mozilla released Firefox 151.0.3, a new bug-fixing update for the browser. It is a small release, which fixes problems with pasting into text fields and the oversized VPN button on the toolbar. The update is now available for all users in the Release channel. Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting: VS Code 1.123 introduces massive upgrades for persistent AI developer workflows Microsoft OneDrive is getting a simple yet much-needed feature Microsoft faces heat after quietly blocking promised Office features on Apple systems Microsoft resumes forced Copilot app installation on some Windows PCs Browser vendors pen an open letter to Microsoft, saying "enough is enough" Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week: AMD Radeon Software 26.6.1 with optimizations for F1 25: 2026 Season, World of Tanks: HEAT, and various bug fixes. Reviews are in Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week Steven Parker dropped more mini PC reviews this week. GEEKOM Air12 2026 Edition is a low-power, affordable computer with an Intel Tiger Lake Pentium Gold processor, up to 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage, costing just $349. It is light, quiet, energy efficient, and has modern ports on the front. However, the front-facing USB Type-C is data-only, and there are some quirks with the computer's memory, so check out the full review. The AMD RX 9070 GRE has been released worldwide, and we published a benchmark review comparing this powerful graphics card to the RX 9070 XT, 7800 XT, the NVIDIA RTX 5070, and RTX 4070. It has solid, balanced performance, plenty of RAM, and low temperatures, but watch out for mediocre ray tracing performance and not the best efficiency. Also, we reviewed the Cuktech 10 Ultra, a compact, high-power charger with four ports and a big display full of various stats. This tiny charger can pull nearly 120W and spread that power according to each connected device's needs. It also comes with a high-quality 240W cable, three power modes, and retractable prongs. The best part? It is quite affordable, just make sure you have an outlet placed in the right spot to benefit from the built-in display. On the gaming side Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more. Do you remember the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, Microsoft's first handheld console designed in partnership with ASUS? This week, ASUS revealed a new version of the device to celebrate twenty years of its Republic of Gamers brand. The new ROG Xbox Ally X20 features an OLED display, a transforming D-Pad, TMR sticks, and other changes. However, the chip inside the console is still the same. Forza Horizon 6 launched last month to critical acclaim, but the game will soon have a new rival made by those who used to work on Forza Horizon titles. Mike Brown from Maverick Games announced Clutch, an upcoming racing game with a story-driven campaign, deep car customization, and rich multiplayer. The game is coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 in Spring 2027. The next update for Minecraft now has a release date. This week, Mojang announced that Chaos Cubed will be available on June 16, 2026. In addition, Mojang published a teaser of the next Minecraft movie. A Minecraft Movie Squared has now been confirmed for a release somewhere in 2027. NVIDIA GeForce Now is getting 18 new games in June. Those include Jurassic World Evolution 3, Fatekeeper, GOALS, Gothic 1 Remake, NTE: Neverness to Everness, and more. If you are a Game Pass subscriber, you can also get new games soon: Persona 5 Royal, Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions, and more are coming to the service this month. Sumer Game Fest 2026 happened this week, where we saw plenty of new games, including Alien Isolation 2, Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3, Gen Atlas from the Shadow of the Colossus creator, a new Cuphead game in 8-bit style, a new expansion for Mafia: The Old Country, and more. Finally, here are this week's Weekend PC Game Deals, full of discounts and the latest freebies from the Epic Games Store. Other gaming news includes the following: God of War Laufey announced, introducing Kratos' wife as the new protagonist Ori studio's No Rest for the Wicked 1.0 release and console plans announced Microsoft launches Godot Sample to streamline Xbox PC game development on the engine Great deals to check Every week, we cover many deals on different hardware and software. The following discounts are still available, so check them out. You might find something you want or need. Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB NVMe - $389.99 | 39% off Sonos Sub 4 - Wireless Subwoofer - $759 | 16% off Logitech MX Creative Console - $159.99 | 20% off This link will take you to other issues of the Microsoft Weekly series. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing for extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option.

  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      X-No-file earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • One Month Later
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      pestcontrol46 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      JKR earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      moog19 went up a rank
      Rookie

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      510
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      274
    3. 3
      Skyfrog
      75
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      71
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      68
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!